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Editorial Monday 17 October 2011: Questions for Professor Grant, NHS Commissioning Board chair-elect

Publish Date/Time: 
10/17/2011 - 10:09

At half-past-ten tomorrow, Professor Malcolm Grant, chair-elect of the NHS Commissioning Board will be interviewed in a confirmation hearing by the Commons health select committee (you'll be able to watch it here).

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Editorial Friday 14 October 2011: Professor Malcolm Grant nominated to chair NHS Commissioning Board

Publish Date/Time: 
10/14/2011 - 11:52

Andrew Lansley (saviour, liberator) has nominated UCL chair and lawyer Professor Malcolm Grant as chair-elect of the NHS Commissioning Board. He faces a confirmation hearing with the Commons health select committee at 10.30 next Tuesday morning.

It's one of those really important jobs, being as it will in charge of Comrade Sir David Nicholson And His Centralising Tendencies.

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Editorial Friday 14 October 2011: Clustered SHA non-executive directors announced

Publish Date/Time: 
10/14/2011 - 09:25

The DH has announced the NEDs of the SHA clusters.

NHS North of England
(bringing together NHS North West, NHS Yorkshire and the Humber and NHS North East)

Chair – Kathryn Riddle
Chief executive – Ian Dalton

Non-executives:
Sir Peter Carr (Vice Chair)
Sally Cheshire (Vice Chair)
Ian Walker (Audit Chair)
Sarah Harkness
Oliver James
Alan Foster
Peter Fidler
Denis Lidstone

NHS Midlands and East

Editorial Thursday 13 October 2011: Waiting numbers show no dramatic deterioration

Publish Date/Time: 
10/13/2011 - 21:02

The latest DH data on referral to treatment waiting times brings out several interesting themes, and I am grateful to Dr Rob Findlay of NHSGooroo for his analysis.

Rob knows whereof he speaks. All numbers compare August 2011 with July 2011 – so it is month-on-month change during the summer months.

Editorial Thursday 13 October 2011: Nursing a hangover with Lansley's health select committee downbanding 'Camnesia'

Publish Date/Time: 
10/13/2011 - 09:28

The special report from the Care Quality Commission, following their targeted inspection of 100 NHS hospitals on dignity and nutrition, which reveals serious failings in hospital care of elderly patients, puts nursing smack in the spotlight.

Les than half of the 100 hospitals inspected (45) were fully compliant in both dignity and nutrition. 35 complied in one or the other area; and one in five - 20 - did not comply in both areas.

Editorial Wednesday 12 October 2011: Lords vote to keep Health Bill on schedule

Publish Date/Time: 
10/12/2011 - 14:02

The Lords Temporal and Spiritual did not come close to being convinced that there was a case for Lords Owen and Hennessey's amendment proposing the Health Bill to be referred to a special committee examining the Secretary Of State's accountability, at 330-262.

This was very similar to the figure on the more symbolic Rea amendment that the Bill should have no second reading at all: 354-220.

Editorial Tuesday 11 October 2011: Lords debate Day One, with bravura Bottomley and crusading Crisp

Publish Date/Time: 
10/11/2011 - 13:31

The House of Lords Health Bill debate streaming can be seen here.

The debate has been of mixed quality, with perhaps the outstanding speech from Lord Owen.

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The Maynard Doctrine: The opportunities and constraints of managing a clinical commissioning group in the new NHS

Health economist Professor Alan Maynard dissects the direction and dentures required for CCGs to stand a chance of success.

The purchaser-provider split in the NHS has failed because PCTs have been price and quality takers rather than price and quality makers. This failure is caused by Whitehall controls and a reluctance to invest in analytical skills in most wannabe commissioning organisations.

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Guest editorial Monday 10 October 2011: Farewell John Healey

Publish Date/Time: 
10/10/2011 - 20:22

In this guest editorial, Irwin Brown of the Socialist Health Association offers his vote of thanks to former shadow health secretary John Healey, whose standing down from the role became public last week.

Sadly for our NHS, John Healey has chosen to do other things. For what it’s worth, many on the inside know he did an excellent job and believe he would have stayed in his post.

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